My first was a Zebco 33 "spincast", but now all i'll use is my zebco cardinal #4. that thing is smooth as glass!
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My first was a Zebco 33 "spincast", but now all i'll use is my zebco cardinal #4. that thing is smooth as glass!
I dont remember, but it probably was made by the Zero Hour Bomb Company
http://zebco.com/common/about.html
Seems like just about every kid starts out with one...
I believe my first would have been a 202, I was probably 11 or 12 before I graduated to a 33, then at 13 went to the garcia 5000. I have no idea how many I have owned, and probably most brands and types over the years. I have a couple of the daiwa ultra lights that went everywhere with me, even when riding a scooter.
It's interesting how many started with Zebco's and Mitchell's. Those are exactly what I use to this day. The Zebco 33 , must have 4 or 5 in working order and for some reason I liked the mitchell's. Got a 300, 301 and 2 more for freshwater fishing and have4 salt water reels. Found the last 2 saltwater reels in Flordia antique stores. I look em over and if they are in working order , buy them. The new ones they make today arn't the same as the old ones...I like the old ones better.
Gary
Johnson century still have it.
Dad bought me a used Bantam Compac with a 5 ft. tubular glass rod and loaded it with 4# test line, in about 1962. He was really ahead of his time. I remember his first spinning reel was a Heddon that did not have a bail, just a roller. You cast then caught the line on your index finger tip and as the roller came around it picked up the line, simple tension held it on. Next he got a St. Croix 4 ft. ultra light with a Bantam Compac reel with 1.7 lb. test line from France and used spinners I think were called Veltec. I saw him catch a 20" long small mouth bass one Spring on that little rig. I stll remember him running down the bank holding that tiny rod above his head as that bass threatened to "spool" him.
Because he started me with ultralight spinning well before it got popular I was the scourge of a lot of adults still using bait casting equipment with heavy black braided line or cane poles. I also remember using "Pinky Jigs", and "Doll Flies" and none of the "Old Guys" could imagine a jig with no action could catch fish. God, I was a lucky kid, Dad paid three dollars for that first rod and reel of mine.
Duke
ABU-matic 290
I still have it.
Zebco 202 then a 33
Mitchell 300 and a 308
My first reel was a Mitchell-Garcia 408 around 1962, first catch was a bluegill. I had the bail latch replaced, caught grayling in Alaska with it in the 1990's. Still use it for small alpine lakes or small streams for trout. Best lure for small streams is the Mepps Agila.
My first reel was an Ocean City St. Lucie -- a narrow bay reel. Filled it with 9 thread linen line (27 lb wet test) -- had to wash it after every day fishing. Used it with a solid glass rod from Sears -- about 5 - 5 1/2 feet long. Fished mostly in Long Island Sound, caught Blackfish, Sea Bass, Porgies, Blowfish and some Fluke. Later when I was a bit older, I had a Penn Surfmaster. coupled to a 7 foot hollow glass rod (I had to earn the money for that rig). Used mostly Ashaway Nylon "Squidding Line" -- still caught the same fish, but added Bluefish, Striped Bass, and some Weakfish.
Over the many years from the 1950's I added an awful lot of rods and reels -- some salt water, some freshwater. Don't fish near as much as I once did, but most of the tackle is still hanging around -- including a 1/2 finished 50 lb class trolling rod - from a time before the short stand up types were seen around.
Man some of you must have been rich as a kid to own a Zebco 33. We started with the 202 which was always junk new or used. The 404 was better by a bit and the 606 to follow. The 33 was the bees knees for a kid. I did finally save up for a new Ambassador 5500D which I still have along with 50 or so other rod/reel outfits.
My first reel was a Zebco 202. Then a Garcia 300. Seems to be a lot of 60's kids on here.
A Zebco 202.
Zebco 33.
Zebco 202. If you had a Zebco 33 you were in high cotton when I was a kid.
Mitchell 304 cap... Remember these? Attachment 83259. I still have a couple.... Guess i am old....
A Zebco! and a fine reel it was at that.
Mitchell 300. Still have it. It has caught a lot of trout.
A J. W. Young Beaudex fly reel was truly the first reel that was actually mine. It was given to me by my manager at Fin & Feather Lodge, East Greenwich, RI. I was his only employee at the time. He was, at least, one of the best all 'round sports I've known. Really very good at a lot of modes of catching and shooting things. He was, for a time later, representing Browning in the Eastern US.
Pete died too young several years ago, and I can't find that reel to save my life. But the memory is indelible.
Since then, I've owned well over $100k worth of reels. But that one I'll always remember.